This Saturday, October 26th, Mel Warstler, Mary Warstler, Sean Rold, and Frank Lescher, otherwise known as Silverwing, will be playing a gig at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada.
Virginia City, a small historic town south of Reno, is the site of the Comstock Lode where during the 1800's millions of dollars of silver was mined. The silver millionaires from Virginia City basically built San Francisco and VC silver financed the Union during the Civil War, hence our state motto "Battle Born." The Red Dog Saloon is a great venue with an awesome stage and sound system plus great food, but the Red Dog is not just another bar. The Red Dog Saloon is significant due to its place in rock and roll history.
The "Red Dog Experience"
I'm sure the building is from the 1800's somewhere, but in 1965 the Red Dog Saloon played a roll in the emerging psychedelic rock scene and the beginnings of the hippie movement. During that year a group of musicians came together and experienced total musical and artistic freedom with some psychedelic additives, if you get my drift. Bands like Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Wildflower and The Amazing Charlatans played at the Red Dog creating the psychedelic music, hippie clothing styles and psychedelic artwork known as the "Red Dog Experience."
These musicians and their style had a direct influence on the hippie movement which erupted during the Summer of Love in 1967 at Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco which led to major changes in social values throughout the US. The members of The Amazing Charlatans were interviewed about the experiences in the 1996 documentary file, The Life and Times of the Red Dog Saloon.
So when we take the stage at the Red Dog it is appropriate to have some reverence for the venue and the incredible experience of playing in the same location as Janis Joplin and walking the same floors as the first hippies at the birthplace of psychedelic rock and roll.
References: Wikipedia and the Red Dog website http://www.reddogvc.com/history.php
About the Author: Mary Warstler is the rhythm guitar player, back-up singer and co-songwriter for Silverwing, a rockin' country band from Northern Nevada. Our CD "Moonshine" is available at CD Baby, Amazon and our website www.silverwingband.com For more music news from Mary check out www.guitarchics.com If you need content for your website, articles for your blog or extra posts on FB or Twitter contact Mary at maryband_girl@yahoo.com
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